VW Touareg Laser SB3s at Skandia Cowes Week - Day 4
by Clare Molloy 8 Aug 2007 07:58 NZST
4-10 August 2007
Glenn Bourke (7 times World Champion and 3 times Laser Class World Champion) helming Musto © onEdition
First win of the week for Glenn Bourke on Day 4 of Skandia Cowes Week 2007
Tuesday of Skandia Cowes Week 2007 started with sunshine and no breeze. A two-hour postponement was greeted quite happily by some of the SB3 fleet, having thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the class party the night before. The fleet hit the water just before midday but racing was still looking unlikely, as there was very little breeze and a strong tide.
Boats attached themselves to buoys, ribs and moored boats in long strings hoping and waiting for the breeze to fill in. Racing finally commenced at 1.30pm after
one general recall and with the black flag flying. 7 boats were
disqualified for being over the line at the start, while the rest of the
fleet struggled to make it up the first beat towards Gurnard Ledge in a
light breeze, tacking close in-shore with many hitting the rocks in front of
Cowes Green.
The boats that got away from the start cleanly managed to
break from the pack and head off down the run with a considerable lead.
This pack included Colin Simonds in Doolalli flying the VW Touareg pink
kite, as the overnight leader.
The race officer’s confidence in the breeze proved right as it filled-in to
produce a fine race. Glenn Bourke in Musto came out on top, beating Geoff
Carveth (EarlsCourtBoatShow.com) by just over a minute to take first place.
Craig Burlton sailed a great race to come in 3rd on his VW Touareg-sponsored
boat, while Colin Simonds was a close 4th.
Carveth is still sitting pretty in first place overall for the series with
11 points, with Simonds close behind on 15. Bourke has 31 points and Team
Maclaren are in 4th place with 57 points. With one discard to count in this
7 race series, there is not much room for error and consistency is the key.
With three days to go there is still time for positions to change and some
lesser-known names to see themselves at the top.